[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             PRESIDENT CLINTON'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I come here today to commend President 
Clinton for his vision and eloquence in last night's State of the Union 
speech and, in particular, for recognizing our urgent need to address 
the crime problem in our country.
  The first responsibility of Government is to protect its citizens, to 
banish the paralyzing fear and violence that crime is visiting upon our 
country. We are all, by now, familiar with the tragic statistics that 
have caused us to question what kind of society we have become. Not a 
day goes by during which we are not reminded again of how crime has 
twisted and perverted the American dream.
  Mr. President, the time has come for us to stop lamenting this fact 
and start taking bold steps to make our streets and neighborhoods what 
they once were and what they ought to be: safe and peaceful.
  Step No. 1: We must recognize that as a society, we are doing a 
shockingly inadequate job of incarcerating violent criminals. According 
to Justice Department numbers, a murderer in America typically receives 
a prison sentence of 18 years. But, on average, that murderer only 
serves about 6 years in prison. Thus, murderers typically receive an 
astonishing 66 percent discount on their prison sentences.
  The numbers for rape and robbery are no more comforting. First-time 
rapists serve less than 4 years and muggers and robbers less than 3 
years.
  This troubling and unacceptable state of affairs resulted because we 
lack the prison space necessary to do the right thing. So step No. 1 
dictates that we must build enough prison cells to keep violent 
criminals off the streets where our children should be playing. For us 
in the Federal Government, that means building prisons that States can 
use, because it is primarily at the State and local level that violent 
criminals are prosecuted and imprisoned.
  Step No. 2: The criminal justice system has become little more than a 
game for many of the people who have chosen a life of crime. They know 
that if they break the law, there is only a possibility--and usually 
not a very good possibility--that they will ever serve significant time 
in prison.
  We must change this calculus and promote certainty of punishment. 
Violent offenders should know if they murder, rob, or rape, they will 
necessarily--and without exception--serve extended time in prison.
  Moreover, as President Clinton said last night, violent offenders 
should know that on the third strike they will be out, just as surely 
as a child knows this fact from the first day he steps up to the plate 
in little league.
  Step No. 3: This step is simple and straightforward. We must put 
enough police on our streets. Police who walk our streets banish fear; 
they broadcast the message that street crime will not be tolerated; and 
because they work closely with their communities, they are more 
successful at catching criminals when the law has been broken.
  If this step is to be meaningful, however, a bigger, bolder, and 
broader police presence must be complemented by additional courtroom 
resources--by prosecutors and judges--so that we can be assured that an 
arrest will quickly result in a conviction and punishment.
  Step No. 4: Our cities have become shooting galleries, with criminals 
often carrying more firepower than the police officers who have pledged 
their lives to protect us. Too many of our children are now carrying 
revolvers rather than writing tablets in their knapsacks. So step No. 4 
dictates that we ban those cop-killing assault weapons that have no 
other purpose. And it means that we take guns out of the hands of our 
children, with a number of exceptions.
  Finally, and no less important, is step No. 5. While Government must 
squarely face its responsibility to address the crime problem, it 
cannot succeed without help--help from the television, cable, and video 
game industries that will enable parents to better regulate the 
violence that inundates our TV screens; help from parents who realize 
the importance of values and discipline; and critical help from 
churches, schools, and community organizations who can make--and who 
have already made--a big difference in the fight against crime in many 
of our cities.
  So, Mr. President, it is time for the Congress to take seriously its 
mandate. The Senate passed a strong, smart, tough crime bill in 1993, 
and now it is the House's turn to do the same. We must join together in 
a bipartisan spirit, sooner and not later, to enact an omnibus crime 
bill that will allow no one to mistake our resolve to fight crime and 
to make America a safer place. Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.

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